Dharma Lion: A Critical Biography of Allen Ginsberg [Paperback]

Michael Schumacher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1994

Perhaps no poet in the history of America, with the exception of Walt Whitman, has so dominated the popular imagination as has Allen Ginsberg. From the close of World War II to the end of the Cold War, Ginsberg has been in the vanguard of every popular movement; from the emergence of the Beat Generation in the Fifties to the hippie and antiwar movements of the sixties, to the ecology movement and the Buddhist revival of the seventies, Allen Ginsberg has given voice to his generation's spirit in poetry of astonishing power. Michael Schumacher has spent eight years researching and writing this dramatic biography, with Ginsberg's full cooperation and with access to all his journals and papers, as well as spending thousands of hours interviewing Ginsberg's friends and enemies alike. With the sweep of an epic novel Schumacher tells the story of this quintessentially American poet and his times, with fascinating portraits of such contemporaries as Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady, and William Burroughs, among many others, along with many rarely seen photographs. This is undoubtedly the most complete portrait we are ever likely to see of one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Allen Ginsberg, choreographer of the Beat movement, ambassador of the counterculture and great communicator of several hip generations, attracts attention that crosses natural, generational, sexual and literary boundaries. In this in-depth biography, Schumacher ( Reason to Believe ) covers Ginsberg's childhood in N.J. where he was born in 1926, his years at Columbia University, his travels, writings, homosexuality and political adventures up until 1981, the last year he was published by fellow poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti's City Lights, which brought out Howl in 1956 and defended the poem against censorship prosecution. Given access to Ginsberg's private archives and having interviewed more than 100 people in 10 years of research, Schumacher weaves a monumental cultural biography, covering Ginsberg's famous Gallery Six reading, his sojourns to India, expulsion from Cuba and "coronation" in Czechoslovakia. Especially noteworthy is Schumacher's documentation of the circumstances and people surrounding the poet when he composed specific poems. Beat veterans will be delighted with this book, and newcomers well-informed by it. A brief postnote summarizes Ginsberg's activities between 1981 and the present. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Schumacher's work covers much the same ground as Barry Miles's Ginsberg: A Biography (S. & S., 1989). Both are richly detailed and full of informative facts; yet both somehow fail to capture the excitement and energy that is the quintessence of Ginsberg. This remains to be found only in the poet's own writing. A critical biography, Schumacher's book focuses more on Ginsberg's poems, providing both perceptive analyses and interesting textual history. Although generally sympathetic, Schumacher tries to be objective when discussing negative as well as positive reviews of Ginsberg's work. He is especially good on Ginsberg's relations with other Beat writers, particularly Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs. A serviceable, well-researched biography that belongs in all literature collections.
- William Gargan, Brooklyn Coll. Lib., CUNY
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 769 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st paperback ed edition (December 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312112637
• ISBN-13: 978-0312112639
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,123,881 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A substantive bio on one of America's great poets, November 10, 2000

By 

Thomas Lapins (Orlando, Florida USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dharma Lion: A Critical Biography of Allen Ginsberg (Paperback)

It's been several years since I read "Dharma Lion". However, it remains for me as one of the finest and most focused journeys into the mind, soul, art and life of a truly great poet and an amazing individual. The life and times and creative genius of Allen Ginsberg will inspire many people for different reasons. First, as a poet, he blew the lid off traditional poetry in the same way Picasso turned art into an intellectual and psychological study of man and the world he has created. Ginsberg was a liberating force for all those who felt "stuck" and "frustrated" by the American "ideal" dream. Second, as one of the beat writers and the ultimate "Bohemian" in his thinking and lifestyle, Ginsberg is fascinating to read about. His travels, both inner and global, take the reader behind, beneath and beyond their wildest imagination. As I read about his adventures, I wondered how he had the energy and money to maintain his incredible journey. Third, his openness and frankness as a gay man was truly heoric and remarkable for his time. Ginsberg, like Walt Whitman, understood the beauty of the mind and the body, and celebrated himself and life through his poetry and how he lived. He fully embraced himself and life in a way that will always leave those who haven't the depth and breadth of a Ginsberg, cold and turned off to this poetic and primal celebration of the Self. Michael Schumacher not only wrote a biography about a literary giant, but filled every inch with the insights and brilliance of Ginsberg and his times. I like a slow read, one that I can savour and think about, put down and pick up again, and then continue the read with more interest and perceptiveness, not only for the subject matter but about life and myself as well. "Dharma Lion" is a biography I'll surely go back to one of these days and enjoy as much, if not more, than I did on the first read. I've recommended this book to many of my friends and I strongly recommend it to you.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional book, May 31, 2009

By 

Francis Lemfield - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dharma Lion: A Critical Biography of Allen Ginsberg (Paperback)

If one ever needed a history of the early Beats, this is it. It's more than a biography of Allen Ginsberg, as exceptional as that aspect of the book is, but using Mr. Ginsberg, the author, Michael Schumacher, presents the Beat movement in all its glory and pathos. One sees that the personae are more than names, Creative Writing exemplars, but are souls in search of their shore.
Aside from Ginsberg, Kerouac, Burroughs, and Cassady, the "secondary" characters, like Gregory Corso and Carolyn Cassady, likewise are seen to be extraordinary in their own right, and even a spear carrier, like Dusty Moreland, is given a luminosity that takes one's breath away.
I think it's a bit clear that I was entirely captivated - transported? - by this book. I can't recommend it highly enough.

5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Vast in scope; minute in detail, March 14, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Dharma Lion: A Critical Biography of Allen Ginsberg (Paperback)

Vast in scope; minute in detail I read this bio immediately after reading Michael Schumacher's bio of Phil Ochs. The Phil Ochs bio was lean and mean and riveting. Michael Schumacher took another route with this book, and made it long and detailed. It's often boring, but you really get immersed in the subject. Allen Ginsberg was a role model for me as a gay man, and as a person who has been fearlessly open about who he is. I admire him more after reading this book. An abridgement might be desirable for the general reader. There are just too many exerpts from journals. The author cuts out after 1980. I would go back to 1970 as the cutoff date. The early years, the ones that made Ginsberg famous, are the fascinating ones. The years after Chicago demonstration seem repetitious.